Our Cruel Destiny
by kat-chan
Summary: Zuko and Katara met as innocent children, but when they crossed paths again as enemies, their decisions from then on had consequences unknown by those around them. This lifelong love brought them bliss and torment, and keeping these feelings secret proved difficult. But just what did their cruel destiny have in store for them? Find out the hidden story of what you thought you knew.
1. When We First Met

_A hidden past, secrets, conflict, sacrifice... They will yearn for each other and hurt for each other... This is the cruel destiny of star-crossed lovers._

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><p>The magnificent golden gates of the Fire Nation palace were bathed in sunlight as a procession of gaudy palanquins passed underneath. A trumpet sounded as a particularly elaborate palanquin came into sight, decorated with golden phoenixes against bright crimson. Rustling clothes could be heard as a lined mass of red and black which had come to observe moved in swift prostration.<p>

Running footsteps and panting resounded through the air as one eight-year-old boy dressed in noble attire pounded the ground with his feet to push himself forward. A wide grin came over his face when he saw the familiar phoenixes, not noticing that he was wearing through his extremely expensive shoes, or that the crowd was staring at him out of the corners of their eyes. Glinting metal spears clashed before the boy's face, blocking his path. "Your highness…" The prince easily slipped past the guards and threw the curtain aside.

"Mother, welcome home!" An elegant robe moved inside the palanquin as the princess turned in surprise to lay eyes on her son for the first time in seven months. Her long hair swayed behind her back, apart from the bun on which lay a golden, flame-shaped crown. She closed her eyes and gently placed her hand on her heart before stepping out and embracing him.

"Oh, Zuko, you really don't care about palace procedure, do you?" She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled down at the cheeky boy. "I appreciate the enthusiastic reception, though."

A plump, long-bearded old man in similar robes to the princess ran towards them with a worried look. "Princess Ursa, I'm so sorry about the young prince's behaviour. He has caused the entire procession to be delayed, and is not welcoming you home to the palace in the proper manner."

"Hmph!" Zuko crossed his arms and turned to him, smiling cheekily. "Don't talk to me about welcoming my mother home properly when you're not even bowing, Prime Minister Chen."

He immediately dropped to the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, his eyes wide with fear. "Please forgive me, your highnesses!"

Zuko laughed as Ursa lifted the old man to his feet. "Chen, you should know you don't need to be rigid with me or Zuko."

Princess Ursa glanced over to two dark-skinned figures clad in blue Water Tribe clothes that had come out of another palanquin further back, and were making their way over. The whole assembly was staring at them. "Ursa, what's going on? Why have we stopped?" asked the woman with a Water Tribe necklace shining in the bright light. She was holding the hand of a girl with looped brown hair, who was staring at everything. Katara was half-curious and half-intimidated to find more people than her entire village kneeling in one huge square.

"I was talking to my son and the Prime Minister here." She turned back to Zuko and Chen and saw their puzzled looks. "On my trip I made friends with Kya, the wife of the Southern Water Tribe's chief, and I decided to invite her and her daughter to live here in the palace for a while."

Kya bowed to them. "I'm honoured to make the acquaintance of the prince and Prime Minister of the Fire Nation."

The worried look returned to the Prime Minister's face. "Princess Ursa, are you sure about this? What would Fire Lord Azulon say about inviting guests from an area we are trying to conquer? It was difficult enough to convince His Majesty to allow you to travel when most princesses remain within the palace gates."

Ursa's face turned grave. "I'll just have to hope he doesn't find out. Don't mention it to the Fire Lord." His mouth dropped open, speechless.

Ursa walked behind the wide-eyed little Water Tribe girl and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Zuko, this is Katara, Chief Hakoda's daughter. Katara's only two years younger than you, so I'm sure you two will have lots of fun together from now on."

The girl gave a little nod, and flashed an innocent smile in his direction. "How do you do, Prince Zuko?"

Zuko looked at her for only a moment before crossing his arms and turning his head away, leaving Katara to stare in surprise and confusion. He refused to associate with a filthy water peasant, especially if she was the daughter of an enemy to the Fire Nation. Even if Katara was the daughter of a chief, the village was so small she didn't have anything to show for it and was completely below him.

Ursa and Kya exchanged worried looks. Then Chen reminded the princess that the rest of her family was still waiting inside to greet her, and they all walked toward the looming red palace in awkward silence.

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><p>It had been two weeks and Zuko still refused to even say a word to the new girl. Whenever his mother mentioned her he'd say he didn't want to be associated with a "girl like that". Ursa and Kya, who had gradually become close friends during the princess' stay at the South Pole, were discussing this over tea in a pavilion. The garden around them was beautiful in the height of spring, the trees covered in cherry blossoms, the birds chirping. But none of this lifted their spirits.<p>

Ursa sighed. "I'm so sorry; he's normally a sweet boy. I don't know why he's acting like this."

Kya gave her a sympathetic look. "It's ok, Ursa. It's just bad luck if he doesn't seem to like her."

The princess stared with a slight frown into the cup she held with both hands. "I was so hopeful that they'd get along. If things had gone to plan, Katara would have steered Zuko on a different course to his father and grandfather. I wanted him to learn to be more open-minded about people from outside the Fire Nation and not as fortunate as himself, so he could be a better role model for our people."

Kya stopped just as the cup was about to touch her lips and looked at her friend with a serious expression. "Don't feel bad about it, Ursa. We're so grateful that you came and said you wanted to establish diplomatic relations with the Southern Water Tribe. We were so surprised to see you come off one of the black ships; our tiny village had nothing to offer you. We are so lucky to have someone like you on our side, Ursa. Imagine coming all the way to the South Pole for our sake when Fire Lord Azulon and Prince Ozai were against it."

Ursa returned a sad smile. "Thank you, Kya. But I still failed." She turned back to her cup and saw her own reflection before a background of dainty cherry blossoms, swept off their branches by the warm spring wind. Their season had been much too short. "If only things were different…"

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><p><strong><em>Author's Note: <em>**_This story was inspired by my own interpretation of events that actually happen in the Avatar canon, and I thought I just had to write a version of Zutara that technically doesn't contradict the canon from their childhood to old age. It will show you a whole new perspective on the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender. My goal is to write an amazing heartfelt story that co-exists with the canon, and I save the best for last. Hope you enjoy it!_

_Also, if you any constructive criticism at all, please leave me a review. I'm very eager to make my work the best it can possibly be._


	2. Sparring

Katara was alone in her dark, strange room in the Fire Nation palace, where the dim candlelight caused shadows to loom over the windowless walls. She'd found a pretty little Fire Nation doll on the floor somewhere else in the Fire Nation palace, which gave her some comfort, but it was still unsettling to be alone in a place like this. She found herself homesick, wanting to see daddy and silly Sokka again. Why did mum want to come with Auntie Ursa? Sure she would have missed the lovely Fire Nation lady, but she never wanted to leave home.

Suddenly hard, quick knocking at the door interrupted her thoughts. Katara put the doll down and cautiously opened it to find a girl around the same age as her in high-quality Fire Nation garb, smiling deviously.

"Hi, you're the water girl that just came, aren't you? Zuko was just complaining to me about how apparently mother keeps trying to get him to talk to you."_ Mother didn't bother to even mention her to me, though. I'll show her that was a mistake by making this girl like me. Even if she is a filthy, worthless little water peasant._

Katara blinked at the self-confident princess. "Um…yeah."

"I'm not as stuck-up as my brother, you see. As long as you're a good little girl, the amazing Princess Azula will be your friend. I'm already a master firebender, you know." Azula lifted her head and flicked a lock of hair behind her ears.

Katara's eyes shone in admiration. "Really? That's so amazing! I can't do a single thing right with my waterbending yet."

"Then do you want to practise with me and my friends? We're all amazing martial artists and if we spar with you, I'm sure we'll have you pulling awesome moves in no time."

A worried frown came over Katara's face. "But what if I still can't do anything right? Won't it be dangerous to spar?"

Azula placed her hands on Katara's shoulders from behind. "Relax; we'll go easy on you. Trust me, we won't go overboard." She led her to a little courtyard with a beautiful turtle-duck pond, where two Fire Nation girls were waiting amongst the spring flowers.

The soft brown eyes of the girl doing a handstand lit up at the sight of her friend. "Azula, where have you been? Mai and I have been waiting for ages!" she laughed as she landed on her feet, her long full plait swaying and falling onto her back.

The other girl with jet-black hair in buns rolled her eyes at her. "You can't sit still for five minutes, Ty Lee. For crying out loud, Azula's the only one who can be bothered keeping you under control."

The Fire Nation princess smiled and pushed a nervous Katara forward. "This girl here is a waterbender from the South Pole and we'll be sparring with her today".

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><p>Soon the turtle-ducks were quacking and beating their flippers against the water in distress. Katara was on her knees in the grass before the pond, her little body aching all over. Her chi had been blocked and she was covered in cuts from Mai, and burns from Azula. Her favorite blue dress, the one that had been made especially for travelling away from the South Pole, was ruined. Her loosened hair fell in front of her face as leant forward, panting and tasting the salt of her tears.<p>

"You… promised you'd go easy on me."

Azula looked surprised and just smiled with Mai and Ty Lee on either side of her. "We did go easy on you. You're just too weak to face proper martial artists. Don't be such a cry-baby. Everybody goes through this in training. Don't you want to get stronger?"

Katara looked up and glared at the cruel princess. "That doesn't mean you can just use me as a practice dummy like that!"

She picked her heavy body up and charged at Azula, who nimbly dodged Katara's water as Mai kicked her down to the ground with a thud. Katara's head hit against a hard rock and blood trickled down her forehead, mixing messily with the dirt and tears on her face.

She struggled to lift herself off the ground, the world spinning before her eyes. She could vaguely hear, as if from far away, the crackling of fire as Azula prepared to burn her again.

"Hey! Stop!" A voice rang through the courtyard. Katara squinted in the direction of the sound, barely making out a blurry red figure.

"Zuko?" she whispered softly before falling unconscious against the damp, solid earth.

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><p>It was dusk when Katara opened her eyes to find herself lying under a warm, soft, blanket back in her room. Despite the aching pain under her bandages, the room was now full of bright torches that made her feel safe and even cheered her up. And on a wooden chair next to her bed was Prince Zuko, who had fallen fast asleep with his chin on his chest.<p>

She groaned in pain as she took her arms out from under the blanket. Zuko rubbed his eyes and looked at her sleepily. "So you're conscious again. How are you feeling? My sister's absolutely nuts."

Katara laughed. "I'm ok now, thanks to you looking after me. You were ignoring me before, but now you're being quite nice."

Zuko's cheeks flushed pink. "Don't get the wrong idea. I only carried you back here and got the palace doctor to fix you up because I knew it would piss Azula off. She ended up throwing a rock at one of the turtle-ducks. Besides, mum would probably have lectured me about being mean to you again if I'd just left you there." He crossed his arms and glanced away, then looked back at her. "But… I admit it was kinda cool the way you kept standing up to her. You didn't stop even when you were hurt all over."

Katara laughed softly. "Thanks"


	3. Smiles and Jealousy

Zuko and Katara were play-fighting with grins on their faces, shooting small bursts of fire and water. Both of them were sweating and short of breath in the scorching Fire Nation midsummer sun. Katara, wearing the little red dress Ursa had ordered to be made for her, smiled mischievously and bent the sparkling water of the fountain over the head of the little prince.

Zuko stared at his royal garb, now dripping from head to toe. She burst into giggles as he smirked, "Looks like you've gotten good enough so I don't have to go easy on you anymore. Too bad for you, a good soak is nice on a day like this."

Katara poked her tongue and hit him with another shot, barely able to stop laughing. "In that case I'm taking a little break to cool off too." She past him to the fountain and started to splash her face lightly with the refreshing clear water.

Zuko grinned cheekily and pushed her headfirst into the fountain. Before she knew what was happening she had landed on the white marble base, as wet as the opponent she'd attacked, and he was guffawing at her. "Hey!" She grinned as she dragged him into the fountain too and they started splashing each other with all their might, chortling loudly.

A group of Fire Nation girls in flashy summer clothes came along the veranda. Princess Azula was waving a fan and Ty Lee was gorging herself on sweet ice. Mai shot a glare at the Water Tribe girl so cold it would have sent chills up Katara's spine if she'd noticed.

The princess complained, "That stupid water peasant girl gets on my nerves. Last time we tried to play with her I got a lecture from mum about not beating up other people or something like that. It's not my fault if she's weak and can't take normal training." She groaned and sat down on a wooden bench, turned towards the fountain. "I don't understand why those two idiots would want to move at all on a day like this, and they're running around like crazy."

Mai leaned against the railing, watching the two of them enjoy themselves. "I guess the water and the fact they're having so much fun makes them forget the heat. They have been playing together every day for around three months now, after all." she commented with a hint of bitterness.

Azula looked straight at her friend. "Mai, you've been even gloomier than usual lately. What's going on?"

The upset girl crossed her arms and kept staring angrily at the two in the fountain, who were still laughing joyously. "She's so below Zuko it's wrong for him to be spending time with her."

Ty Lee stopped stuffing her face with sweet ice and leaned forward with an interested smile, her eyes twinkling in excitement. "Hmm? So Mai likes Zuko…" She started giggling.

Azula couldn't help bursting into laughter. "Really? My stupid brother? Are you sure about that?"

Mai shot her a glare. "Shut up! He's the prince, so it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Azula was stunned. It was the first time Mai had ever actually yelled at her, or anyone, for that matter. "Wow, you must really like him to get worked up like that. It's not like you."

Mai ignored her and continued staring at them as her hurt and angry grimace grew deeper and deeper. They were still laughing loudly, completely unaware.

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><p>"Katara! Zuko! I brought sweet ice!" called Kya, holding two wooden bowls. Still laughing, the children ran over and left a trail of water with their squelching cloth shoes along the white pebbles and up the stairs. "Aren't you two a bit too eager to have your ice? You're both soaking wet, you know. " Kya smiled and looked at the puddles gathering where they stood on the wooden floor of the veranda.<p>

"On a day like this we'd want our sweet ice no matter what. Right, Katara?" He flashed her a pearly white grin.

"Uh-huh." Katara smiled and nodded fervently.

Kya laughed as they took their cold treat and sat down on the bench. "I really don't know how to deal with the two of you."

The children grinned at each other and scoffed down their crystal-like, cold treat. Katara soon ended up with a speck of blueberry ice on the corner of her mouth. Zuko saw it and used his wet hand to gently wipe it away with a chuckle. "You're so clumsy. If you were a princess, everyone would make fun of you."

Katara looked into his warm golden eyes and felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Zuko awkwardly turned away and was about to have another mouthful of red raspberry ice. "So you don't think I would make a good Fire Nation princess?"

Zuko spluttered, almost choking. "Of course not! A waterbender as a Fire Nation princess? And the only decent things you own are the dress you're wearing now and the doll you picked up. It wouldn't suit you at all!" He was extra defensive because he'd secretly been wondering if he could convince her stay in the palace with him.

Katara pouted and crossed her arms. "But in a way I'm still a Southern Water Tribe princess. I could do an okay job." Her wide, glistening blue eyes threatened to spill out tears any moment.

Zuko got flustered and tried to take back his words. "Ah, I mean... I'm sure you could learn how to be a proper Fire Nation princess in time… And, um... your mother's necklace is nice, too?"

Katara smiled and Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other and chuckled.

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><p>Ty Lee was in the courtyard trying to make funny faces. She pulled her mouth open and stuck out her tongue with one eye closed. Mai just sat there and stared straight at her, unamused.<p>

"What are you trying to do?" asked Mai in her usual unimpressed, slightly annoyed tone.

"Trying to cheer you up… Most people would think you're always like this but I can tell you're feeling really down." A big pout came over Ty Lee's face.

Azula walked up beside Ty Lee and crossed her arms. "It's been half a year since that water peasant came to the palace, and Zuko seems to have completely forgotten our existence."

"You think I'm upset that idiot decided to abandon us? Please, I'm completely fine." insisted an indignant Mai, as she kicked the autumn leaves at her feet.

Azula raised an eyebrow. "Whatever, if you say so." The Fire Nation princess cartwheeled twice then fell. Mai's face was as bored and moody as ever.

Her hyper circus-obsessed friend cartwheeled into a perfect backwards somersault, only to be pushed over. "Azula!", she complained. The princess only laughed.

Mai spotted Zuko as he walked across the veranda with Ursa at his side. She turned away and blushed, happily hoping he'd come to play with them for the first time in a half a year.

Azula noticed this and smiled cheekily as she whispered "Watch this" into Ty Lee's ear, making her giggle. Everything went according to plan - Zuko was forced to play with them, and when she lit the apple on top of Mai's head on fire, he pushed her into the fountain, landing on top of her.

But neither Mai nor Zuko were impressed, and afterwards she could only lament to Ty Lee "We thought making a cute moment for them would cheer her up, but it only seems to have made things worse". The other girl cast her eyes down and nodded in agreement.


	4. Great Escape

Looming shadows danced across the floor of the Fire Nation Throne Room. Bright red flames with no warmth flickered and licked the air around the intimidating, magnificently dressed figure of Fire Lord Azulon.

"Perhaps I should have you take Zuko's life. You must know the pain of losing a firstborn son - by sacrificing your own!", his voice boomed.

A small gasp came from behind a curtain.

The Fire Lord's sharp eyes turned toward the sound. "Guards!"

A small girl cautiously walked out as guards pointed spears at her until they realised who it was. She laughed awkwardly. "Hello, grandfather." She went forward and knelt down.

"Azula, this is not the first time you have eavesdropped on an important discussion. Some things are not for children to hear."

"Forgive me… But grandfather, are you really going to have Zuko killed?... I know he's hopeless and fraternizes with the enemy", she smirked, "but he's still your grandson and a Prince of the Fire Nation."

The Fire Lord's golden eyes widened. "What do you mean 'fraternizing with the enemy'?"

"When mother was on her trip she went to the South Pole, and now she's brought Chief Hakoda's wife and daughter to the palace. They've been here for nine months now, and Zuko plays with the little waterbender girl every day."

"Then Ursa's two guests will be taken hostage, and Prince Zuko will forfeit his life."

Azula was stunned and speechless.

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><p>Katara felt like she had just fallen asleep in her dungeon-like room when her mother burst through the door frantically.<p>

"Honey, get up quickly! We have to leave right now!"

A sleepy Katara rubbed her eyes, still in a daze. "What, why?"

"There's no time to explain. We have to run."

Ursa ran into the room with the Prime Minister behind her. "Chen will show you how to get past the guards out of the palace and give you Komodo rhinos with sacks of gold. Take them to the harbour, and use the gold to buy a boat and supplies. I have to say goodbye to my children and prepare to leave too." She hugged her friend briefly. "Good luck."

Kya lifted her child out of bed and set her on the floor. "Come on; let's go." She pulled a still half-asleep Katara toward the door.

"My doll…" The girl's eyes were fixed on the little figure lying on top of her bed, still smiling.

"Leave it…" Kya ran after Chen, dragging her daughter with her through the cold winter night.

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><p>At dawn the next morning, Zuko was running through the palace grounds as a vague memory of his mother coming into his room flashed through his mind... Azula had told him their mother was missing and the Fire Lord had passed away.<p>

When he confronted his father for answers, all he found out was that Ozai would succeed to the throne instead of Iroh, and the coronation ceremony was later that day. Extremely confused and not knowing what else to do right now, he went looking for Katara.

But she was nowhere to be found. She wasn't in the courtyard, or the dining hall, and none of the servants had any idea where she or Kya were.

Zuko stopped when he arrived at Katara's room. The door was open, but all he could see were her things neatly arranged as always, except for a messy blanket and doll on the bed.

He picked up the doll and stared at it. _Why is everyone gone? Katara didn't even say goodbye…_ He squeezed it in one hand as he clenched his teeth and threw it at the brick wall as hard as he could. When it landed on the floor he kicked it under the bed and stormed out. The wide grin stayed on the doll's face.

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><p>Katara was walking along the harbour with her mother, her eyes fixed on the sparkling blue sea. The little girl was extremely tired from the journey so far and lack of sleep, but she kept going, a heavy sack of gold in her hand.<p>

Kya went up to a thin old man fast asleep in a chair on the deck of a small, old boat. She gently pushed his shoulder and he startled awake. "I'm so sorry to trouble you, but is your boat for sale?" She was glad they were dressed like Fire Nation citizens, even if the old man might still think they had rather unusual features.

"I'm sorry, but I'm planning on using it to take my family to the colonies. All the supplies are already loaded on board and we leave today."

Katara's mind drifted. _I wonder if people at the palace realize we're gone yet?_

Kya opened one of the sacks she was carrying to reveal gigantic gold sycees. "All of these are filled with gold. It's all yours if you give me the boat with the supplies on it."

The old man's eyes grew wide, and took the bags of gold off the boat without a word, speechless.

_What will Zuko think when he wakes up and realizes I'm gone without a word?_

They had needed trained riders for the Komodo rhinos, but in the Southern Water Tribe even the women learnt how to sail a boat.

Kya was halfway through lifting up the sail when she stopped in her tracks. Tears had welled up in her daughter's eyes. "Honey, what's wrong?"

As Katara spoke she began to sob. "I know… I hadn't wanted to come, but… *sniff* now I don't want to go!" She began crying and hugged her mother tightly.

All Kya could do was stroke her hair gently and say, "It'll be ok. We're going home now, back to our cosy, safe little tent."


End file.
